RALEIGH - The head of North Carolina's Democratic Party says the Republican-controlled state legislature should give a bill to legalize medical marijuana an honest up or down vote.

Democratic Party chair Randy Voller spoke Tuesday to about 200 people who rallied at the Legislative Building in Raleigh in support of making North Carolina the 19th state to legalize the possession and use of small amounts of pot with a doctor's prescription.

The Enact Medical Cannabis Act was filed by two Democratic lawmakers last week. Past marijuana legalization bills have died in committee. However, GOP House speaker Thom Tillis says he wouldn't rule out a well-crafted bill that allowed cancer patients and others with serious illnesses from having access to marijuana as long as strong safeguards were in place to prevent widespread use.